New data on teens and soda, and San Fran tax heads to ballot

More teens skipping soda? Get the scoop in the new Research Watch!

But first, a quick update: Philadelphia’s City Council acted one week ago to fund universal preschool with a tax on sugary drinks, earning ringing endorsements from around the country. However, the soda industry is putting those kids’ futures in jeopardy by suing the city. With a measure now headed to the ballot, San Francisco voters will have the chance to make theirs the first city to have both a sugary drink tax and warning labels on ads for sugary drinks. Oakland and Albany, CA will also vote on sugary drink taxes in November which would expand the benefits in the Bay Area well beyond Berkeley.

You may have seen reports on new federal data showing more teens are skipping sodas, but there’s more to the story. We dig deeper into the latest findings about sugary drinks and youth in our latest edition of Research Watch. You can also find out about how sugar is increasing in fast food beverages, whether front-of-package labels have led to lower sugar content, and more on research that can help us bring sugar back to healthy levels. Read More.

We supported research showing the health impacts of a tax on sugary drinks in Philadelphia and now researchers in South Africa have run the numbers for their country. They found huge savings in health care costs and lives saved. Read More.

You may know that regular soda, sport and energy drinks give us too much sugar, but you may be surprised to learn who has the highest intake. We look at how sex, race, income and education impact the numbers. Read More.

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